Month: September 2014

Toxfree has purchased Australia’s first Volvo Euro 6 truck, which was officially handed over at the International Truck, Trailer & Equipment Show in Melbourne.

Toxfree’s FE has been fitted with a vacuum body and equipment by Vacuum Truck Supplies located in Mansfield, Victoria and will become a part of the east coast operations. Trucks currently sold in Australia only need to meet the Euro 5 emission standard, but Toxfree has taken the lead by showing that we care about the environmental impact of our fleet.

What are the benefits of a Euro 6 truck?

The Volvo FE Euro 6 is powered by the Volvo D8K engine, which develops 320 horsepower and uses a combination of technologies to meet the stringent Euro 6 emission standards, including selective catalytic reduction (SCR), a variable geometry turbo, a cooled EGR (exhaust gas circulation) system and an exhaust particulate filter.

The environmentally conscious Euro 6 fits in with Toxfree’s core values of being safe, reliable and sustainable. The truck gives Toxfree a competitive advantage when it comes to being environmentally friendly and shows a commitment to reducing emissions on our planet.

Perflourinated compounds (PFCs) are man-made and contain long, fully fluorinated carbon chains with different functional head groups. PFCs are used in products to resist grease, oil, stains and water. They are also used in fire-fighting foams and appear in products which have water and soil repellent properties. Speciality fire-fighting applications have included Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFF) and Alcohol-Type Concentrate (ATC) that were used to extinguish Class B fires that involve flammable fuels.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are the most researched of the PFC substances, but recent studies have identified at least thirteen other related chemicals that are largely un-researched. The carbon-fluorine bond of these chemicals is incredibly strong, which makes it resist breakdown and causes PFCs to build up in the food chain. Once PFCs are released into the environment they remain there indefinitely and are not believed to undergo metabolic or other degradation in the environment.

According to the US EPA, PFCs have become concentrated in humans and other animals due to their presence in the environment as well as exposure from food and consumer products. The Stockholm Convention is an international environmental treaty that aims to eradicate some of the most toxic chemicals known to mankind. In 2009, nine additional POPs were listed under the Stockholm Convention, including PFOS and PFOA. Australia is a signatory to the convention and is bound to assessing the risks of PFCs and is conducting research into the presence of PFCs in human and ecological populations.

Toxfree has a state-of-the-art “hazardous chemical” destruction technology developed by CSIRO called PLASCON®. The PLASCON® process produces a high temperature plasma arc by ionizing argon gas in a 150 kW DC discharge between a separate cathode and anode. A mixture of waste and oxygen is injected radially into the plasma at a specially designed injection manifold. This process is known as pyrolysis. Unlike incineration, dioxin formation is avoided by the use of pyrolising conditions and rapid quenching. PLASCON® can achieve Destruction Efficiencies (DE) in excess of 99.999999%. PLASCON® waste destruction eliminates a wide variety of concentrated organic waste types listed on the Stockholm Convention. This included PFCs, PCBs and pesticides such as 2,4-D, DDT, DDE, Dieldrin, Aldrin, Lindane, Malathion, Heptachlor, Ethion, 2,4,5-T, Carbaryl, Dichlorovos, Chlorpyrifos.

Thermal Desorption is a “physical separation process” where heat is used to desorb (evaporate) moisture and contaminants from solids. Evaporated contaminants are either converted (generally to Carbon Dioxide and Water) or condensed and collected. The temperature in the Thermal Desorber vessel is increased above the boiling point of the organic compound to be removed. Samples of the treated waste are analysed to verify complete decontamination prior to reuse, recycling or disposal. Toxfree operates an In-direct Heated Thermal Desorption (ITD) – a dual shell process with a condensation unit for small oil volumes and specialist removal of organic contaminants from solid material i.e. PFCs from soil.

Toxfree is one of Australia’s leading integrated waste management and industrial service providers. Our core values, “Safe, Reliable and Sustainable”, underpin our commitment to offer our customers the safest, most reliable and sustainable waste management solution we can.

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About Us

Toxfree is one of Australia's leading integrated waste management, environmental solutions and industrial services providers. Our core values of 'Safety, Reliability, Sustainability, underpin our commitment to offer our customers the safest, most reliable and sustainable solutions we can.
Now spread across 50 locations within Australia, Toxfree's team continues to grow (now exceeding 1100) and our service offering just keeps getting better!
You'll find us in all sorts of unusual places from the Class A Nature reserve of Barrow Island in the West to the brisk climate of Launceston in Tasmania.
We hope you enjoy our stories.